ENTER THE VOID

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ENTER THE VOID is a drama following the lives of a brother and sister living in contemporary Tokyo. The brother, Oscar, is a small-time drug dealer and his sister, Linda, works as an erotic dancer in a strip club. The film was classified '18' for frequent hard drug use and strong real sex.

The film contains frequent sight of hard drug use, including the use of cocaine, LSD, GHB and DMT. At '18', the BBFC's Guidelines state that cuts may be required to 'any detailed portrayal of [...] illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health'. More generally, the Guidelines state that 'No work taken as a whole may promote the misuse of drugs and any detailed portrayal of drug misuse likely to promote or glamorise the activity may be cut'. Although ENTER THE VOID places some emphasis on the pleasures of recreational drug use, most notably through extended sequences filmed from the point of view of the hallucinating drug user, the dangers of drug misuse are made clear throughout the film, both in the dialogue and in the narrative itself. For example, one of the central characters is shot by police during a drugs raid and finds himself lying on the floor of a toilet cubicle, covered in his own blood. Such scenes serve to reduce any glamorisation of the lifestyle depicted. Additionally, although various methods of drug use are shown, such as taking pills, smoking drugs and snorting lines, none of the material shown presents information that is likely to be novel or instructional to an adult audience.

The film also contains several scenes of strong sexual activity and nudity, including sight of naked couples thrusting during sex, sight of implied fellatio and sight of erect penises. These scenes exceed the terms of the '15' Guidelines where 'Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail' and are therefore more appropriately placed at '18'. In addition there are infrequent scenes of strong real sex, including sight of vaginal penetration by dildo and by penis and sight of ejaculation. At '18', the Guidelines state that cuts are likely 'where there are more explicit images of sexual activity which cannot be justified by context'. The images in question are relatively brief and are not dwelt upon. Their purpose is not to arouse or titillate the audience; rather, their purpose is to illustrate the hedonistic and often seedy world inhabited by many of the film's characters.

In addition, ENTER THE VOID contains frequent strong language and two uses of very strong language. It also contains scenes of strong violence, some strong gory images (including sight of head wounds in the aftermath of a car accident), strong verbal sex references and a scene depicting a pregnant woman undergoing an abortion procedure in a hospital or clinic. The latter scene in particular includes sight of surgical instruments being used on the woman and close sight of the dead foetus lying in a metal dish, which some viewers may find disturbing. The film also includes occasional suggestions of an incestuous relationship, including inappropriate kissing between siblings and sight of a brother sniffing his sister's discarded underwear. However, no incestuous sex is actually shown.

ENTER THE VOID also includes a number of sequences of flashing and flickering lights that are likely to trigger a physical reaction in vulnerable viewers. It also contains extended sequences featuring rotating and handheld camerawork that may induce motion sickness in some viewers.